Building structure



Jan. 1 1, M; c, KN E BUILDING STRUCTURE Filed Feb. 18, 1946 1| 0 o o o 0 OOOOO INVENTOR v Cl. Male M N R O A Patented Jan. 11, 1949 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2,458,606 BUILDING STRUCTURE I Martin o. Knabe, Library, Pa. Application February is, 1946, Serial No. 648,403

This invention relates to new and useful improvements in building structures and more particularly to structural forms for standardizing buildings whereby they may be prefabricated for shipment and assembly without the need for special tools.

A further object of the invention is the construction of a building frame employing a special form of ridge splice member designed to develop strength of the rafter beam and which can be employed for buildings of difierent widths.

A further object of the invention is the construction of building frames which shall give maximum rigidity and strength while allowing maximum interior space.

The invention will become more apparent from a consideration of the accompanying drawing in which like reference characters designate like parts, and in which Fig. 1 is a front elevational view of a building frame section embodying the principles of this invention;

Fig. 2 a similar view illustrating a novel form of ridge splice;

Fig. 3 a front elevational view of a column embodying splice plates for use with rafters employed with the special form of ridge splice member of Figs. 1 and 2;

Fig. 4 a cross sectional view of the column taken along the line 4-4, Fig. 1, showing an eave splice for the rafter;

Fig. 5 a similar view taken along the line 5-5, Fig. 1, of another eave splice on the column;

Fig. 6' a cross sectional view of the column taken along the line 6-6, Fig. 1;

Fig.7 an end elevational view of the ridge splice of Fig. 2; and

Fig. 8 a top plan view partially broken away of the rafter splice.

In the drawing, the numeral I designates a column which is of H-shape but which may be of any other suitable structural form having eave splices 2 and 3 provided with a plurality of perforations for bolting or riveting a rafter 4 which may be of an I-beam or any other wide flanged section. The rafters 4 are joined to a ridge splice generally designated by the numeral 5 which is shown in detail in Fig. 2 and which is provided with perforations in the top and bottom flanges 6 and l for bolting the rafters thereto.

The ridge splice is prefabricated of a metal plate or web 8 which is stiffened with cross webs 10 to form the apex of the building structure. Flange plates 6 and I are joined to the web plates 8 and ID by welding, the bottom flange 4 Claims. (Cl. 108-1)v plate 1 being curved as shown. Anchor plates Hand l'2 are fastened to web plate 8 and are provided with perforations f3 for receiving bolts for fastening the ends of the rafters 4 in the manner shown in Fig. 1. Angle bars 14 are bolted to the topflange plates of the ridge splice for assembling the roof structure thereon.

As shown in Figs. 3, 4 and 5, the column I has eave plates 2, 3 and 9 welded thereto for receiving the end of rafter 4, the plates 9 and 2 being cut out to the flanged structural member and the column I being cut out to receive the upper eave plate 3. The cave late 9 may be braced by a plate 2a and all of these plates are secured to the column by welding.

The columns with the eave plates are prefabricated as shown in Fig. 3 and the ridge splice is prefabricated as shown in Fig. '7 with the perforations for receiving the bolts or rivets for assembling the rafters 4 thereto. These prefabribated structures may be shipped to the point of installation, together with the rafters which likewise have beendrilled for receiving the fastening bolts at the ridge splice and eave plates. Where riveting facilities are not available, the structure may be assembled by bolting and, of course, they may also be welded.

The structure adaptes itself to the construction of buildings of varying widths by the use of rafters of different lengths. The ridge splices may be standardized for different depths of beams, depending upon the size of the buildings and the carrying loads involved.

By means of the prefabricated ridge splice the full strength of the rafter beams is obtained and no struts are needed as in conventional construction which occupy space within the building. Also by use of the prefabricated struts with their eave plates and the ridge splice a minimum number of structural forms are required to provide a building structure having a rigid frame of maximum strength which constituted a continuous beam for the uniform transmission of stresses throughout.

Although one embodiment of the invention has been herein illustrated and described, it will be evident to those skilled in the art that various modifications may be made without departing from the principles herein set forth.

1. In a building structure, a frame comprising flanged columns and flanged inclined rafters constituting a continuous beam embodying a ridge splice for transmitting stresses uniformly throughout the beam, said splice comprising a prefabricated member having flanged ends engaging the flanges of the rafters and having anchor plates secured to the rafters and to the Web of the ridge plate.

2. In a building structure, a frame comprising flanged columns having prefabricated eave plates, inclined flanged rafters having one end supported on said plates and being joined by a ridge plate at their outer ends, said ridge plate having a central web of a dimension greater than the Web of the rafter with top and bottom flanges for overlapping the flanges of the rafter, said web and flange members having perforations for receiving fastening means to anchor the rafters thereto to constitute the columns, rafters and ridge plate a continuous beam for transmitting stresses uniformly throughout.

3. In a building structure, a frame comprising prefabricated ridge plates, columns and inclined rafters joined to constitute a continuous beam for transmitting stresses uniformly therethrough, said ridge plates comprising an H-section forming an apex at the top of the rafters having a central web and top and bottom flanges with a transverse flange at the apex integrally formed therewith, the top and bottom flange and web portions having perforations for receiving fastening members to join the rafters thereto.

4. In a building structure of flanged columns and inclined rafters, a ridge splice for the rafters comprising a pair of web members having their end faces cut at an angle determined by a selected roof pitch for a given width of building, said angular end faces being joined to form an apex, flange plates secured at the top of said web plates by welding with their end faces in abutting relation, a curved flange plate secured to the lower edges of the web plates, said top and bottom flange plates extending beyond the ends of said web plates for receiving the flanges of rafters, and a transverse web plate extending vertically between the top and bottom flanges at the apex of the ridge splice, and means for securing the rafters to the flange and web faces of said ridge splice.

MARTIN C. KNABE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,369,837 Price Mar. 1, 1921 1,783,958 Davidson Dec. 9, 1930 

